Daily Times

Year-Ender 2022

LAHORE: Pakistan sports had been in a state of disrepair for years but they did show more than a few signs of life and did provide a massive adrenaline rush in 2022 with incredible stories to savour in an intense and often overwhelming year. All things considered, it wasn’t quite annus mirabilis for sports in Pakistan. There were highs and lows, and moments of raw emotion when athletes pushed the limits and revealed their human vulnerabilities. At the same time, it was lamentable that there was no encouraging news or any specific plan from the Pakistan government, giving priority to the sports sector. Pakistan athletes Arshad Nadeem (athletics) and Muhammad Nooh Dastigir Butt (weightlifting) gave Pakistan sports a boost after winning gold medals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022. In all, Pakistan won two gold, three silver and three bronze medals, improving their record on the previous Commonwealth Games 2018 held in Gold Coast, Australia, (21st edition) where they won only five medals: one gold and four bronze. It was heartbreaking that Pakistan hockey failed to qualify for the World Cup for the second time and also lost two of its former Olympians Abdul Waheed Khan and Manzoor Hussain Junior who left for their heavenly abode. There were good news also in 2022 when FIFA lifted its ban on the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), Pakistan hockey winning a medal at Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia after 11 years, Pakistan winning world snooker title for the fourth time and Pakistan’s Tayyab Ikram becoming the President of the International Hockey Federation.

Pakistan hockey great Abdul Waheed passes away aged 86: On February 21, former Olympian and hockey great Abdul Waheed Khan passed away at the age of 86 in Karachi. Waheed was rushed to hospital after his health deteriorated. However, he breathed his last even before reaching the medical facility. Born on 30th November 1936, in Rajpur Town of Madhya Pradesh in British India, Olympian Waheed played international hockey for Pakistan from 1960 to 1966. He appeared in 56 international matches and scored 52 goals. He was part of the Pakistan hockey team that won Pakistan’s first gold medal in hockey at Rome Olympics in 1960. Waheed, who used to copy Indian hockey legend Dyan Chand, was the first of Pakistan’s great center-forwards. He was followed by Pakistan greats Rasheedul Hasan and Hasan Sardar. It is said that Waheed was a trend setter in a sense he was the first center forward who would also fall back to help defence; something which was unheard of in his playing days. He also represented the Pakistan team that topped the podium at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta. At the 1962 Asian Games, Waheed scored a record number of 17 goals out of total 33 goals scored. His 17 goals included a double hat-trick also. This was Pakistan’s record of most numbers of goals by a player in a single tournament. It is still a record at the Asian Games. Under his managership, Pakistan claimed a hat-trick of gold medals in three major international events: World Cup, FIH Champions Trophy and Asian Games, all three in 1978. Waheed also wrote a book “Hockey — How to become world champion”.

Pakistan’s Ahsan wins IBSF World Snooker Championship title: Pakistan’s 16-year-old Ahsan Ramzan made the country proud in March when he won the IBSF World Snooker Championship title in Doha, Qatar. Ramzan – who was seeded 27th in the tournament – defeated the more experienced and top-seeded Amir Sarkosh of Iran 6-5 in a nerve-testing final played. Ramzan was once 3-5 down and the Iranian needed only one frame to clinch the title but the Pakistani cueist held his nerve, displayed amazing skills, and great control to resist his opponent and won three consecutive frames to earn the country’s fourth IBSF World Snooker title. He is also the country’s youngest to win this trophy after Mohammad Asif, who won it twice, while veteran Mohammad Yousuf won it in 1994. Ramzan won the final in over five hours and 20 minutes with scores of 63-60, 91-0(70), 56-34, 01-102(102), 28-68, 27-66, 86-18, 1-70, 69-0, 63-17 and 67-25.

Pakistan hockey fails to qualify for World Cup for second time: To qualify for the World Cup 2023, Pakistan needed to reach the semifinals of the Asia Cup held in May 2022 in Jakarta, Indonesia. But the Green Shirts ended at the fifth spot above Bangladesh, Oman and hosts Indonesia. It was only the second time the former giants of hockey couldn’t make it to the World Cup, the first was in 2014. Like the Rio Olympics 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Pakistan’s World Cup omission had been tragic. For a country that has won three Olympic golds and a record four World Cup titles, more than any other nation, missing out on back-to-back Olympic Games and two World Cups had been nothing less than a catastrophe. Pakistan had suffered a shocking and continuous decline from being consistently among the top four to languishing at 18th in the latest world rankings. It was Pakistan that floated the idea of a Hockey World Cup in the late 1960s. Pakistan also presented the magnificent World Cup trophy.

FIFA lifts suspension of Pakistan Football Federation: In the last week of June, FIFA lifted the suspension of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) which was imposed due to undue “third-party” interference. A group of officials led by Ashfaq Hussain Shah, which was elected by the Supreme Court in 2018 to run the PFF but was not recognised by FIFA, took over the headquarters in March 2021. They had seized control from FIFA’s normalisation committee (NC) headed by Haroon Malik, with Ashfaq saying the committee had not conducted elections for the body in the 18 months since it took charge. FIFA suspended the PFF due to the “hostile takeover” but said on June 30, 2022 in a statement that it now had confirmation the committee had regained full control of the PFF’s premises and was in a position to manage its finances. “The PFF was also informed that any undue interference in its affairs or action that could hinder the fulfilment of the mandate of the normalisation committee might lead to the PFF being suspended again and/or the imposition of other sanctions provided for in the FIFA Statutes,” FIFA added in the statement. Ashfaq was named PFF president after a 2018 election held on the instruction of the country’s Supreme Court. FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation refused to recognise him as the elected president, ruling the court’s move a “third-party interference” in the running of the national football body.

Pakistan female mountaineers create history, summit K2: In July, two Pakistan female mountaineers created history by reaching the top of the 2nd highest peak of the world, the 8,611-metre high K2. Samina Baig summited the mighty K2 along with her team members and became the first ever Pakistani woman to scale the mountain. Following Samina’s summit, Naila Kiani reached the top, becoming the second. No other Pakistani woman could achieve this feat before. Samina comes from a remote village of Gilgit valley Shimshal. In 2013, she became the first Pakistan woman to scale the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest. Less than three hours after Samina’s feat, Naila reached the top.

Birmingham Commonwealth Games July 28 to August 08: It is interesting to note that Nadeem’s feat brought Pakistan’s first athletics medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 since 1966 and a first javelin gold for the country, bettering Mohammad Nawaz’s silver at the inaugural edition of the quadrennial multi-sport spectacle in 1954 and Jalal Khan’s second-placed finish in 1958. During the first round of the javelin throw final, Nadeem created a record through an 86.81m throw. In the second attempt, Nadeem broke his own record by achieving an 88m throw, followed by an 85.09m throw in the fourth attempt to remain on top of the list. In the fifth attempt, the Olympian set a new CWG record of 90.18m throw, relegating two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada to silver with mark of 88.64 meters and Kenya’s Julius Yego into bronze with mark of 85.70m. This was incredible. Against all the odds, without his coach and with his throwing elbow heavily taped due to injury. Arshad also defeated Indian Neeraj Chopra’s Tokyo Olympics throw of 87.58m (gold) and World Athletics Championship throw of 88.13m.

Pakistan won their other gold through weightlifter Nooh Dastigir. In 109+kg category, Nooh Dastigir lifted 173kg in snatch, setting a new CWG record. In clean and jerk, het lifted 232kg to set another record. Overall, Nooh Dastigir lifted 405kg which was also a CWG record. New Zealand’s David Andrew lifted 394kg to bag silver whereas India’s Singh Gurdeep lifted overall 390kg to finish with bronze medal. Pakistan wrestler Mohammad Tahir Shareef won silver in freestyle 74kgs category while his compatriot Ali Asad bagged bronze medal in freestyle 57kgs category. Pakistan wrestlers Muhammad Inam Butt and Zaman Anwar won silver medals after being overpowered by their rival athletes in freestyle +86kgs and +125kgs categories, respectively. Pakistan won a medal in judo when Shah Hussain Shah won bronze after defeating South African Thomas-Laszlo Breytenbach in -90kgs event.

Pakistan’s lone gold at Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya: In August, Pakistan took part in the 2022 Islamic Solidarity Games, in Konya, Turkey. Arshad Nadeem won the lone gold medal for Pakistan in the javelin throw competition. The athlete pitched the javelin at a record speed of 88.55 metres in the air. In his first attempt, Nadeem threw the javelin at a speed of 79.40 metres, followed 88.55 metres, 75.50 metres, 82.40 metres, and 83.33 metres. Pakistan finished at 27 position with just one gold medal. Some of the biggest disappointments for Pakistan included Shah Hussain Shah (judo) and Saadi Abbas (karate) and Nooh Dastigir Butt (weightlifting) who were knocked out at first hurdle. At least 4,000 athletes from 56 Muslim countries competed in 24 different games while vying for a total of 355 medals. Before Turkey, the Games had been staged in Saudi Arabia (2005), Iran (2010), Indonesia (2013) and Azerbaijan (2017). The Tehran edition, however, had to be called off following a dispute between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

‘Golden Boy’ Manzoor Junior passes away: On August 29, Manzoor Hussain Junior, Pakistan’s all-time great inside-right and one of the most decorated players in hockey’s history, died due to cardiac arrest. Born in 1958 in Sialkot, Manzoor played for Pakistan from 1975 until 1984. He led Pakistan to Olympic gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games. Pakistan hockey never won gold after 1984. Manzoor capped 175 times and scored 86 goals. Manzoor, remembered for his hockey prowess, was also known as ‘The Golden Boy’ for winning many gold medals. He was awarded Pride of Performance by the President of Pakistan in 1984. He was a wonderful schemer, distributor, dribbler as well as scorer. His two brothers – Maqsood Hussain and Mahmood Hussain – also played hockey and represented Pakistan. After making his hockey debut against Kenya in Nairobi in 1973, Manzoor went on to achieve big things for Pakistan hockey. Manzoor’s contributions for Pakistan hockey are matchless: Olympic gold (1984), two World Cup golds (1978 and 1982), World Cup silver (1975), Olympic bronze (1976), two Asian Games golds (1978 and 1982), one Asia Cup gold (1982) and two FIH Champions Trophy golds (1978 and 1980). He was captain of Pakistan at Junior World Cup in 1979, the only time Pakistan won this title. Manzoor was certainly a magician, hurricane and jaguar on the hockey field, especially with his zig-zag like moves. With his hockey display, Manzoor was always considered an iconic player of every tournament.

Pakistan clinch bronze at Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: In November, Pakistan took part in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia and claimed bronze medal. Pakistan have won a medal at the event for the first time in 11 years. Pakistan had won the event three times: 1999, 2000 and 2003. The Green Shirts were runners-up six times: 1983, 1987, 1991, 1994, 2004 and 2011.

Pakistan finish seventh at FIH Nations Cup in South Africa: Pakistan took part in the inaugural FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup at the North-West University of Potchefstroom from November 28 to December 4, 2022. The Nations Cup is an annual qualification tournament for the Men’s FIH Pro League. The eight highest ranked teams not participating in the Men’s FIH Pro League participated in the tournament: Canada, France, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan and South Africa. The Green Shirts ended at seventh spot in the eight-team competition. The importance of the FIH Pro League is that the champions in 2023/24 and 2024/2025 will earn direct qualification in the World Cup. The winners of 2025/26 will qualify for Olympics 2028. Keeping in view of the competitive environment and the present performance of the Pakistan hockey team, it’s a very hard task for Pakistan to qualify for the next Olympics or World Cup. The only chance for qualification for the Olympics is if Pakistan win the Asian Games and Asia Cup for the World Cup. Asian teams like India, Korea, Malaysia and Japan have improved a lot. Pakistan are ranked 17th in the world rankings and fifth in Asia.

Babar wins bronze at World Amateur Snooker Championship: In November, Pakistan cueist Babar Masih won bronze medal in the World Amateur Snooker Championship 2022 in Turkey. Babar could not make it to the final round as he was defeated by Japan’s player Lim Kok Leong by 5-3 in semi-final of the championship played in Antalya city. The Pakistan player defeated the Indian player Brijesh Damani to qualify for the semi-final round.

Pakistan’s Tayyab becomes new President of International Hockey Federation: In November, Pakistan’s Tayyab Ikram became the new head of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) after defeating Belgium’s Marc Coudron in the Presidential election. Ikram, who is also the Asian Hockey Federation Chief Executive Officer, defeated his Belgian rival 79-47 in the virtual FIH Congress. The Pakistan official, who now resides in Macao, has secured a two-year term as head of the organisation, completing the mandate of India’s Narinder Batra who resigned in July. A total of 129 national associations participated in the Congress, with 126 casting votes.

Is there any hope in 2023?: Sports are littered with examples of sports men and women who have performed well against the odds — that’s partly what keeps us watching as spectators. Confucius said: “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” This quote, in part, explains why sports people can recover from adversity and perform well. Some would argue that failure is a necessary part of the process of success. The important thing here is not the adversity that is faced but how those affected react to the adversity. One can respond by giving in and allowing the adversity to perpetuate, developing a culture of failure, or by demonstrating a dogged determination to rebuild and rise again. Athletes are marked by their heroics, their endeavor and their struggle against the odds. Same goes for sports administrators.

In the beginning it seems that sporting success for Pakistan was heaven-sent. A country with little or no sporting infrastructure quickly rose as a force to be reckoned with in a variety of sports and that too at the Asian as well as world level. Almost all of the top national sportsmen were, more or less, self-made. Their success made us over-confident to the point that we thought it was our birthright to excel at the world level.

It is very unfortunate that like many other institutions, Pakistan sports have also failed to sustain and grow as a national priority. In games other than cricket, unless an individual tackles all the impediments and becomes successful on his/her own strength, he/she doesn’t get any recognition. This is a major drawback in Pakistan sports. Sports activities in the country have been reduced to matter of chance and personal interest only. Pakistan has been showing glimpses of brilliance occasionally but that is due to individual interest, comparatively low level of international competition, fewer scientific interventions and due to existence of financial support extended to sportspeople through departments or their parents.

Lack of availability of proper facilities and infrastructure, inadequate role of sports federations and lack of support from the government has badly affected Pakistan’s graph in sports. There have been some individual successes, but such victories have been few and far between. Over the years, not one, not two but almost all sports have experienced a sharp slump in our country. It goes beyond misfortune and carelessness and instead appears to be a trend.

Perhaps the biggest reason for the extraordinary decline in sports in Pakistan is lack of funding and vision. Pakistan’s sports budget is the lowest in South Asia, less than that of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and even Afghanistan. Governments all over the world keep sports and education as their top priority, build infrastructure, hold talent development programmes for players and promote medical sciences in sports to compete the world of sports. But in Pakistan it is totally opposite because sports are not our priority.

What more depressing is that sports activities in schools, colleges and universities have touched an all-time low because of diminishing sports fields, poor systems and lack of interest in sports by young generation that have many other options to keep them occupied. But perhaps the worst aspect of this development is that educational administrators no longer feel that sports are an integral part of all decent educational systems. Some even think it is a waste of time. This is one of the main reasons why student representation in our national sports teams is becoming negligible compared to the past when most of our national teams thrived on student and university representations. The insistence of Pakistan parents on making their children doctors, engineers, civil servants, businessmen, IT specialists and cricketers is one of many reasons why Pakistan is failing in producing world class sportspersons.

It is lamentable that Pakistan sports, over the years, have become politicised and nepotistic. In the national sphere and the sporting arena the root of our dilemma is the notorious system of patronage and imposed cronies, to the exclusion of merit and professionalism. Under the powerful patron’s benevolent gaze, the pick and choose appointees can survive scandals and failures that would crush an ordinary mortal.

Modern sports structures all over the world have sports institutions as integral components of their systems. Even Bangladesh has one. It is regrettable that after 75 years we have not been able to establish one. Sports are neither a burden on national economy nor an impediment to development, but an engine for economy and development and means to strengthen the socio-economic order. It is indeed a

force multiplier to strengthen the federation and promote peace and harmony among provinces. Pakistan sports desperately need qualified human resource in terms of coaches, trainers, physios, sports psychologists, administrators, sport medicines experts, and referees. The dismal state of sports affairs of the country should be a wake-up call for the government, and the sporting authorities. To rise above again, Pakistan sports need strong financial backup, commitment and self-belief. Only hard and incessant efforts lead to success. In the absence of these, we should not dream of reaching for the skies!

(The writer is Sports Editor at Daily Times.
He can be reached at mali319@hotmail.com)